Fluorescent lighting fixture



- Feb. 22, 1944. J BlLLER 2,342,570

FLUORESCENT LIGHTING FIXTURE Filed Nov. 15, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 22, 1944. BILLER FLUORESCENT LIGHTING FIXTURE Filed Nov. 15, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 22, 1944.

D. J. BILLER 2,342,570

FLUORESCENT LIGHTING FIXTURE Filed Nov. 15, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 7g}, A/An/roe:

Patented Feb. 22, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FLUORESCENT 'LIGHTIN FIXTURE David J. Biller, St. Louis, Mo., assignor to Day- Brite Lighting, Inc., St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri 4 Claims.

This invention relates to fluorescent lighting fixtures of the kind having a lamp circuit; embodied therein including a plurality of lampholders and a replaceable current-limiting device, commonly called a ballast. In such installations, the lampholders are removably secured the fixture, and the replaceable ballast has relatively long lead wires that are permanently secured thereto and are adapted to be secured to the lampholders and to the wires of the current supply curcuit. In such fixtures, the lampholders are mounted therein in a manner which renders the contact screws or terminals thereof inaccessible for attachment of the ballast leads thereto, thus making it necessary to secure said leads to said lampholders before the latter are mounted in the fixture. Thus, when it becomes necessary to replace a ballast, the ballast and the lampholders must be removed from the fixture before the ballast. can be disconnected from the various lampholders. A new ballast with permanently attached leads must then be connected to the lampholders and the whole assembly then mounted in the fixture.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide for mounting the ballast in the fixture and removing it therefrom without removing the lampholders and lead wires from the fixture. The invention consists in permanently connecting such lead wires to the lampholders and in providing quick detachable connections between said wires and the ballast, whereby the ballast may be quickly removed and replaced without removing said lampholders or lead wires. The invention also consists in the parts and combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

in the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification and wherein like symbols refer to like parts wherever they occur,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a two-lamp fluorescent lighting fixture provided with a wiring harness embodying my invention,

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line 2-2 in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view on the line 3--3 in Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a similar view on the line 4-4 in Fig. 1,

. Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical longitudinal section'on the line 5-5 in Fig. 2,

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the complete wiring harness for said fixture, a portion of the ballast being also shown,

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6, showing a modified form of wiring harness for said fixture; and

-Fig. 8 is a thew similar to Fig. 6 showing a wiring harness for a single-lamp fixture.

vIn the accompanying drawings, my invention is shown embodied in a two-lamp fluorescent lighting fixture comprising an elongated body A of substantially inverted channel-shaped section adapted to be secured against a ceiling, and end closures B for said body having depending semicircular portions for supporting a glass trough-shaped light-diffusing cover 0. The fixture is also provided with a sectional reflector plate D that extends longitudinally of the body member A from end to end thereof and covers the channel therein. The reflector plate D comprises relatively short end sections I and a. relatively long removable intermediate section 2 that cooperate with the channel in the body member A to form a closed wiring space or housing 3.

Extending longitudinally of the fixture between the glass cover C and the reflector D are two spaced parallel fluorescent or electric discharge lamps E that are supported at one end in lampholders 4 and 5 and at their opposite ends in combined lamp and lamp starter holders 6 and 1. Each of these holders has a laterally extending wire receiving portion that is located in the wiring space or housing 3 of the fixture and is removably secured by bolts 8 to the upper surface of an end section I of the reflector D, and a depending lamp supporting portion that extends downwardly into the space between said reflector and the glass cover C through notches 9 in the outer end of said end section. The lamp circuit includes the lamps E, holders 4, 5, 6 and l, lamp starters I 0 mounted in the holders 6 and I, and a suitable current-limiting or control unit H connected by suitable lead wires to said holders and starters and to the current supply circuit for the fixture. The current-limiting or control device ll, hereinafter referred to as a ballast, comprises a casing or housing containing the usual auxiliary equipment (not shown), such as a reactor or transformer, a capacitor, and sometimes also the lamp starter switches Ill. The ballast II is located in the wiring housing or space 3 in the fixture and, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, is removably secured by bolts l2 flatwise to the underside of the inverted channel-shaped body member A of said fixture.-

As shown in the drawings, the lampholder 4 has wire leads l3 and I4 secured to the terminals thereof; the lampholder 5 has a wire lead l5 secured to one terminal thereof and a wire I6 secured at one end to the other terminal'thereof and at the other end to the starter terminal of the lamp and starter holder 6; a wire I 1 connects one terminal of the holder with one terminal of the holder I; the holder 6 has a lead wire I! secured to said terminal thereof; and the holder 1 has a lead wire I! secured to said terminal thereof and a lead wire 20 secured to the starter terminal thereof. The lead wires i3 and ll of lampholder 4 and the lead wire l5 of the lampholder 5 are all permanently connected to a single contact block 2i that is removably held, preferably by one of the bolts l2, between the underside of the body A and the downwardly oiiset end portion 22 of the ballast II; and the lead wires l8 and 20 of the holders 6 and I, respectively, together with a lead wire 23, are all permanently connected to a single contact block 24 that is removably secured by the other bolt l2- between said body and the other downwardly offset end-portion 25 of said ballast. As shown in the drawings, each contact of each contact block comprises a pair of spring contact elements 26 that are mounted in an opening 21 in said block and are adapted, when said block is engaged with the ballast, to snap over a rib-shaped contact element 28 on the underside of said ballast. The wires 13 to 20, inclusive, are preferably soldered or otherwise permanently secured to the terminals of the different lampholders, while the free ends of the leads I!) and 23 are adapted to no connected to the wires (not shown) of the current feed or supply current.

By the arrangement described, the holders, wires and contact blocks are all connected together to form a preassembled wiring harness or set that is adapted for ready attachment to the fixture and to the current supply circuit; and this J harness may be quickly and easily connected to the ballast merely by attaching the two contact blocks to the opposite ends thereof. Thus, when it becomes necessary to remove and replace a ballast, this operation is readily. accomplished without disturbing the lampholders or replacing any of the wires, merely by removing the intermediate reflector section 2 of the reflector plate D to provide an access opening to the wiring space or housing 3, detaching the contact blocks from the ballast, removing and replacing the ballast through said access opening and then connecting the contact blocks to the new ballast.

In the arrangement shown in Fig. 7, the wire leads i3, i4 and I5 of the lampholders 4 and 5 are adapted for quick attachment to and detachment from the ballast by means of contacts of the plug-and-socket type, the plugs 28a being permanently attached to the ballast H and the socket members 26a being ermanently attached to the free ends of said leads.

The wiring harness shown in Fig. 8 is adapted for use with a single lamp fixture. In this harness, the lead l5a of the lampholder 5a and the lead We of the lampholder 6a are permanently connected to a contact block 21a similar to the contact blocks 2| and 24 hereinbefore described, the line wire leads Na and 23a are permanently connected to said block and holder, respectively, and the wire I6a is permanently connected at one end to the holder 5a and at the other end to the holder Ba.

What I claim is;

1. In a multi-lamp fluorescent lighting fixture, an elongated body of inverted channel-shaped section, a reflector secured to said body and covering the channel therein, said reflector including fixed end sections and a removable intermediate section, a ballast removably mounted in and sustained by the top of said body in substantial alinement with' said intermediate reflector section, whereby said ballast is accessible and replaceable upon removal of said intermediate reflector section, and a pre-assembled wiring harness mounted in said body and adapted for .detachable connection with said ballast, whereby said ballast is adapted for replacement without removing said harness from said body. said harness comprising lampholders mounted in said fixed end sections, lead wires permanently connected to said lampholders, a separate contact block permanently connected to the lead wires of the lampholders in each of said end sections, means for detachably securing each of said contact blocks to said ballast, contact elements on said contact blocks cooperating with contact elements on said ballast, a' wire leading from a lampholder in one of sail end sections to a lampholder in the other of said end sections, a wire connecting the lampholders in one of said end sections, and two lead wires adapted for connection with a current supply circuit for said fixture, one of said last mentioned lead wires being permanently secured to one of said last mentioned lampholders and the other being permanently secured to the contact block therefor.

2. In a single lamp fluorescent lighting fixture, an elongated body of inverted channel-shaped section, a reflector secured to said body and covering the channel therein, said reflector including fixed end sections and a removable intermediate section, a ballast removably mounted in and sustained by the top of said body in substantial alinement with said removable intermediate section, whereby said ballast is accessible and replaceable upon removal of said removable intermediate section, and a pre-assembled wiring harness mounted in said body and adapted for detachable connection with said ballast, whereby said ballast is adapted for replacement without removing said harness from said body, said harness comprising a lampholder mounted in each of said end sections, a contact block adapted for detachable connection with said ballast and having contact elements adapted for cooperation with contact elements on said ballast, a lead wire permanently connected to the lampholder in one of said end sections and to one of the contact elements of said contact block, a lead wire permanently connected'to the lampholder in the other end section and to another contact element of said contact block, a lead wire permanently connected to said last mentioned lampholder and adapted for connection with a current supply circuit, a lead wire permanently connected to another contact element of said contact block and adapted for connection with said current supply circuit, and a wire leading from one of said lampholders to the other and forming a permanent connection therebetween.

3. In a fluorescent lighting fixture, an elongated body of inverted channel-shaped section, a reflector secured to said body and covering the channel therein, said reflector including fixed end sections and a removable intermediate section, a ballast removably mounted in and sustained by the top of said body in substantial alinement with said removable section, whereby said ballast is accessible and replaceable upon removal of said removable intermediate section, and a preassembled wiring harness mounted -in said body and adapted for permanent connection with a current supply circuit and for detachable connection with said ballast, whereby said ballast is adapted for replacement without removing said harness from said body, said wiring harness including lampholders mounted in said end sections, a contact block permanently connected to said harness, means for detachably securing said contact block to said ballast, and contact elements on said contact block cooperating with contact elements on said ballast.

4. In a fluorescent lighting fixture, an elongated body of inverted channel-shapedsection, a reflector secured to said body and covering the channel therein, said reflector including fixed end 3 sections and a removable intermediate section, a ballast removably mounted in and sustained in the top of said body in substantial alinement with said removable section, whereby said ballast is accessible and replaceable upon removal of said removable intermediate section, and a preassembled wiring harness mounted in said body and adapted for permanent connection with a current supply circuit and for detachable connection with said ballast, whereby said ballast is adapted for replacement without removing said harness from said body, said wiring harness including lampholders mounted in said end sections, and contact elements adapted for detachable connection with contact elements on said ballast.

\ DAVID J. BILLER. 

